homeland security runs a credit check at the dealer?

[rony]

[dtmenace]

whether i'm a whiney democrat or inflated ego republican is irrelevant here.

to think that counter-terror measures instituted whithin our borders has worked is naive, terrorists can easily attack when and where they want, and they will - rest assured of that. terror attacks in other countries are also no less important, just less interesting to you who does not live there.

...i think the truth of the matter is, a subaru (with or without turbo) is somehow deemed "practical", and i personally believe that this will not be the car of choice for terrorist when the next attack does come.

[ChrisK]

Wow. "Anti-terrorism measures work because we haven't been attacked."

 

Don't be silly. Lack of an attack is not proof. Besides, we HAD anti-terrorism measures in place before 9/11. You could/would have said our anti-terrorism measures were working on 9/10/01.

 

Everybody (or at least the vast majority of arrogant, ethnocentric Americans) thought they were safe before 9/11. Turns out CIA/FBI/NSA/CDC could not protect against an attack of this nature. And guess what? THEY STILL CANNOT. It's impossible. Just ask anyone living in Israel how easy it is to stop a single person from doing Something Bad.

 

But go ahead. Burn the constitution. Our Government will protect us from the world full of evil Muslims! Sheesh.

 

(Sorry to keep the thread off-topic, but that was just silly!)

[ChrisK]

...i think the truth of the matter is, a subaru (with or without turbo) is somehow deemed "practical", and i personally believe that this will not be the car of choice for terrorist when the next attack does come.

 

Indeed. What are you going to do with a Subaru, anyway? Load it up with explosives? Why not do that with an Econoline with blacked out rear windows? Infinitely more practical and devastating.

 

Or do you want to crash an important motorcade? Get a giant heavy truck and flatten everyone. I believe Ryder trucks are $30/day.

 

Or do you want to destroy a building? Get a semi tractor and pack the trailer to the brim with something nasty. Drive into it, and BOOM.

 

Seriously, WTF are you going to do with a freaking Outback!? Terrorize a Greenpeace meeting?

[dtmenace]

that's actually not a bad idea, they would never see me coming! - a wolf in sheep's clothing!

[jc51373]

Now I heard something totally fawked up tonight when buying my new outback. I was writing a check for it, didn't need financing. The presented me with a credit app anyway. I balked. No need for anybody to peek at my credit if I am paying in full with a check right? Well they proceeded to tell me that I needed to fill out the credit check because this is a way for Homeland Security to screen for terrorists buying new cars? WTF???? I never heard of such a think. I still balked. F- them. No one needs my social security number when I am purchasing a car with cash. Guy looked at me like I was insane. I guess I was the only one to go tell them to jump in a lake. He talked to me like I am an a-hole. I about walked, kid was hungry, yadda yadda.

 

Funny thing is he asks me where I work, again FU none of your business. I tell him I work in IT, and he said he used to work in IT, "tough racket". Turns out I met this guy, he went from selling cell phones to SUN servers for a VAR to selling cars and financing cars. Bwaaahahaha. Sorry dude, you're looking down on me when I make 4X your salary. Yeah I am the one who is a loser because I won't kowtow to an invasion of privacy.

 

 

If your not doing anything wrong and everything is legit, who cares. Let em spin their wheels. I don't see all the fuss about this stuff...I mean you walk into a place and pay 30K cash for a car in a society that is fast become cashless you gotta expect to be questioned. Terror or not. I am all for it, I say look into everyones background for terror information, in fact I hand it over willingly. Read my e-mails, tap my phone, bang my wife for all I care (kiddin), just protect this damn country.

 

But i digress....

 

Is there a program for dealers to have to run your credit that is mandated to keep the "terists" from buying Subarus and putting Greenpeace and Gore04 stickers on them?

 

SeanP

 

 

If everything is legit and you aren't doing anything wrong who cares really....I mean you walk into a dealership and plop down 30K cash to buy a car in a society that is virtually cashless for transactions like this, you gotta expect a few questions, expecially these days. I say let em spin their wheels checking..Check my background, read my e-mails, tap my phone, bang my wife for all I care (kiddin), as long as this country is protected. If I have to sacrifice a little privacy to win the battle I personally am ok with that.

[jc51373]

I agree, and I have no objection to being stopped in the street by a cop and showing my ID, but If an average Joe asked to see your ID, would you show it ?

 

A credit check is to check your credit rating (duh), if you are not borrowing money then it is not necessary. If they want to do a security check, then that's what they should call it.

 

 

Dude, aren't you Canadian? What do you care anyway? Shouldn't you be worried about your own elections right now (Liberal or Conservative)? Hmmmm wonder which one you are? Or worrying about how Team Canada is going to do in the Olympics?

 

Anyway, credit checks repot alot more than your score pal, so think again before you say Duh! DUH!

[PhilT]

Dude, aren't you Canadian? What do you care anyway? Shouldn't you be worried about your own elections right now (Liberal or Conservative)? Hmmmm wonder which one you are? Or worrying about how Team Canada is going to do in the Olympics?

 

Anyway, credit checks repot alot more than your score pal, so think again before you say Duh! DUH!

 

Nope, I'm a Brit, just 'cos I live in Canada doesn't change my nationality.

 

I care because only now is the US begining to feal the fear that we had in the UK when the IRA were killing women and children indescrimnantly in the '70's and early '80's. I can see the US government is going down the wrong road to solve your (and the world's problem). Heavy handed tactics just don't work, they didn't work for the Brits in N.Ireland, they didn't work for the Russians in Afghanistan, they won't work for the US in Iraq.

 

History is a wonderful learning tool, if you want to see how to solve a problem, read up on how other people have solved theirs.

[ChrisK]

Funny, while a Brit might call the IRA terrorists, an IRA member might call the Brits invading colonials. It's the same thing in Israel and Taiwan and Kashmir. One man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist.

 

As for feeling fear... why would I be afraid of people who hate me? It's not like the world just started hating America in 2001. This has been brewing for decades.

 

Canada sure lucks out, hanging onto the US for its economy while getting none of the bad press, doesn't it? Ah well, someone's gotta be Bad Cop.

[gt_ltd]

History is a wonderful learning tool,

 

but people never learn.

[jc51373]

I believe what the Brits dealt with in UK with the Irish was very different than this situation man...And our country is nowhere even close to dealing with this in the heavy-handed manner the UK did, domestically anyway...Trust me I live here. What you are hearing from these people is not the best sample size to make any assumptions from.

 

I am all for dealing with it through black ops...Spying, profiling, whatever it takes to thwart thier efforts. Did you ever see the movie Swordfish? I think we should take a page out of that book. Everytime something bad happens here, a bunch of bad things happen bad over there. No distinction as to who either.

 

Sorry to assume you don't know what you are talking about, I am sure you have alot of advice to offer. I just think the situation is slightly different here, but in general terms I see your point.

[jc51373]

but people never learn.

 

 

Very true...Thats just simply a part of the human condition I guess. If we learned from history we would have stopped going to war centuries ago when we realized the horror of it. Don't know why we do, but I know I would pick up a rifle and fight for my country tomorrow if I had to. There lies the problem with the human mind.

 

 

 

ChrisK-very well said.

[rfd425]

If everything is legit and you aren't doing anything wrong who cares really....I mean you walk into a dealership and plop down 30K cash to buy a car in a society that is virtually cashless for transactions like this, you gotta expect a few questions, expecially these days. I say let em spin their wheels checking..Check my background, read my e-mails, tap my phone, bang my wife for all I care (kiddin), as long as this country is protected. If I have to sacrifice a little privacy to win the battle I personally am ok with that.

AGAIN -- the guy DID NOT pay cash. He wrote a check, with a paper trail. There's a VERY big difference, and the government treats them very differently for investigative purposes.

 

There's a liquor store near me that swipes your driver's license every time you purchase liquor there. I'm 39, with a few gray hairs, and they know damn well I'm over 21, but they tell their clerks to check everyone's ID, and not just to look at it, but to swipe it. I won't shop there. Who knows what information they're gathering? I don't want some database keeping track of the fact that I buy a case of beer every week, or a half-gallon of gin twice a month, or whatever. They are gathering information that they don't have any right to gather, and it's not Homeland Security that's making them do it.

 

It's the same thing with this car dealer. I do not believe that this was a Homeland Security-related situation; I think they just wanted to see if the guy was good for the money (i.e. that his check was probably good). He's is paying for the car with money that he already has, and they do not need to see what his credit card balances are, or what his monthly mortgage amount is, or whether he was ever late on a student-loan payment.

 

Incidentally, my understanding was that most of the 9/11 terrorists were living in this country for a while (at least a year) before the attacks. Had they bought new cars with personal checks, what would a credit check have revealed that would have prevented anything? Nothing, other than the fact that they had managed to accumulate $25-30K in the time they lived here, not unusual for foreign nationals who are not accustomed to the easy credit available in the USA.

[RacingFish]

ummmm when a person is paying "CASH ( credit card or check or greenbacks) we still make him fill out a credit app. only his name and address not social sec. or anyother info.. we use it for the info on how he wants his or her car titled... dont think it has nothing to do with 9/11

[D-2.5-GT]

but they tell their clerks to check everyone's ID, and not just to look at it, but to swipe it. I won't shop there. Who knows what information they're gathering?

 

I hope you never travel then...

[gt_ltd]

Who knows what information they're gathering?

 

iirc, when i swiped my own driver license*, i only saw whatever is already printed on the front of the license, nothing else (no SSN).

 

* i have a credit card scanner which also works with many other cards like library cards.

[PhilT]

I am all for dealing with it through black ops...Spying, profiling, whatever it takes to thwart thier efforts. Did you ever see the movie Swordfish? I think we should take a page out of that book. Everytime something bad happens here, a bunch of bad things happen bad over there. No distinction as to who either.

 

What happens in Hollywood stays in Hollywood, we live in reality (unfortunately).

[rfd425]

iirc, when i swiped my own driver license*, i only saw whatever is already printed on the front of the license, nothing else (no SSN).

 

* i have a credit card scanner which also works with many other cards like library cards.

That may be, but the scanner at the liquor store is built into the register, which is basically a computer. I assume it is capable of linking my purchases with my driver's license info. Whether or not they actually save that information, or use it in any way, I don't know, but I find it to be intrusive.

[gt_ltd]

dr. rich, do u pay by credit card/check or cash?

[rfd425]

dr. rich, do u have by credit card/check or cash?

I don't understand the question:confused:

 

I should say that I'm not as paranoid as it might sound like. It's just a matter of principle. I usually use credit cards when I buy stuff, and they could track all the same info, and I don't really care. I just don't like the fact that this one particular liquor store is abusing their right to check ID's, ostensibly for age verification, and they are swiping and capturing the DL info from people like me who are obviously old enough to buy liquor.

[gt_ltd]

fixed.

[rfd425]

fixed.

Did I answer it already?

[Garandman]

oh, wait, ur paying by check... go to the bank, get a big stack of 100's, go back to the dealership... they will not have any problems.. i promise.. esp. when they put on the books they sold the car for 15K. hahaha

Nope, over $10K in cash and it has to be reported under Federal law.

 

But I just bought one last month with a check and didn't have to fill out a credit check. Did have to wait for it to clear, a day. So someone is confused.

 

A friend of mine ran through this and it was just to find out his net worth. When he came back to pick up his car, they told him they'd inadvertantly sold the one he'd bought, and all they had left was anothe model with about $5,000 in options.

[gt_ltd]

yes sir you did. i agree that particular liquor store is being unreasonable.

[Bretm1]

This thread really caught my attention(truth is i'm trying to get to 100 posts) anyhoo, whenever some one pays large amounts of money whether cash,check, money order, or monopoly money, red flags go up. Unless you are buying a Buick whose buyers average 87 years old and who has the largest amount of cash purchases of any vehicle manufacturer.

 

The reason ties in to organized crime, drugs, money laundering, illegal gambling and a host of other various and sundry activities including terrorism. Thank goodness we can express our "colors" and opinions so freely. If you don't like it you can always move to Basra. I hear the roads are really nice there. If some one already said this, I don't give a shit. I'm just trying to get to 100 posts.

 

Best Regards